Diane Lou Finger Brenneman

Diane Finger Brenneman took great delight in reading obituaries. The flowerier the language, the more she laughed. She wished hers to be the floweriest of all. Specifically, she wanted me to say that angelic choirs sang while trumpets blared, harps played, and bells rang. Streams of glory rose before the winged unicorns who pulled her golden chariot home on December 23, 2021. Those of you who knew her wicked sense of humor will know how hard she would have laughed to see that I actually did it. You’re welcome, Mom.

Born in 1943 to Almeron and Thelma (née Kuchenbeiser) Finger, she was raised in Germantown, New York. She moved to Virginia as an adult, married a Marine, and stayed here for the rest of her life. She loved Labrador retrievers and roses and horse racing and baking and reading and good food and needle work and bacon and her grandkids. She hated exercise, low-calorie desserts, and obituaries that didn’t specify the cause of death (hers was renal failure). She was known and loved for her sense of humor, which was frequently rude and almost always inappropriate.

She is survived by (although she would prefer the flowerier phrase, “She leaves behind to mourn”): her husband of 52 years, Benjamin Brenneman III, three daughters & son-in-laws, and 6 grandchildren: Nicole, Mark, Ben, and Evelyn Lepsch of Charlottesville, Virginia; Laura, George, Sam, and Jenna Owen of Forest, Virginia; and Kelly, Matt, Miranda, and Sylvia Spaugh of Clarkston, Georgia.

Funeral arrangements will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you tell rude jokes and laugh uproariously at inappropriate times.